But in an interesting contrast to the majority of today's
billion-dollar tech companies, Snapchat makes its home not in the
office parks of Silicon Valley, but in the Southern California
beach town of Venice.

Snapchat has some 200 employees at its Venice headquarters. As of
this writing, there are more than 40
job openings in the company's Venice office in addition to
several in New York.

A company expanding that rapidly needs lots of office space, in
addition to infrastructure like parking and housing for
employees.

But Venice, a beachfront community of Los Angeles that's long
been a haven for artistic types, is known for its pricey
bungalows, dearth of parking, and often crippling traffic.

"The market is escalating. There's not a lot of inventory," Tami
Pardee, owner and principal broker at Venice-based Pardee
Properties, said to Business Insider. "In terms of office space,
there's not room for everyone."

Snapchat's first official office was a bright blue beach
house on the Venice boardwalk. A yellow sign with a depiction of Ghostface
Chillah, Snapchat's ghost logo, marked the spot.

But by the end of 2013, they
had outgrown the beach house and moved to new offices on nearby
Market Street. They leased 6,000 square feet of space at 63
Market Street.

Madeline Stone / Business
Insider

The company quickly outgrew that space, however, and a few months
later they signed for an additional 3,940 square feet in the
building next door.

Madeline Stone / Business
Insider

They also leased space at 64 Market Street across the
street.

Madeline Stone / Business
Insider

In January,
according to the Los Angeles Times, the company also leased 25,000 square
feet of space at Thornton Lofts, about a half-mile away from
Market Street on Ocean Front Walk.

Thornton Lofts, located along Ocean Front Walk in
Venice.Google
Maps

It's Snapchat's latest real estate deal, however, that has some
local business owners questioning the company's decisions.

Snapchat is rumored to be in talks to take over more than 40,000
square feet in a
55-unit office complex at the corner of Abbot Kinney and
Venice Boulevards, one of the busiest intersections in the
neighborhood.

According to several business owners in that complex, tenants
received a note from their landlord that a deal was going to come
down soon, and that it would be in their best interest to look
for new space. They would know for sure by June 1 and have until
the end of the month to move out.

"None of us has been given a
lot of information," Briabe Mobile CEO James Briggs, whose
company leases about 2,600 square feet in the complex, told
Business Insider. "Everyone is under the assumption that
Snapchat is going to take the whole thing."

The 55-unit office complex
that Snapchat is reportedly in talks to take over.Google Maps

Several of the business owners we spoke to said they will have to
leave Venice if the deal goes through. According to data from
real estate firm CBRE published by the
Los Angeles Times, office lease prices in Venice have doubled
since 2011, reaching an average of $5.82 per square feet a month.
According to the same data, the vacancy rate has halved to 10%.

"We’re looking on
the west side of L.A., maybe Marina del Rey. It’s going to be a
struggle," Briggs said. "There
are not a lot of business complexes like this in Venice, and
we’re completely priced out of what’s left. Venice is out of the
question now."

In an effort to avoid the uncertainty completely, Helena
Ruffin moved her health insurance company out of the Venice
complex in February.

"I
really loved the community, but I couldn’t risk it," she told
Business Insider. "We were
in the process of enrolling a hundred new clients,
and I
couldn’t risk having to move offices and move my staff and
interrupting my business seriously."

Ruffin purchased a two-story townhouse in Playa Vista, just
a few miles east of Venice. She lives on the second floor and
runs the Ruffin Group Insurance on the first, paying roughly the
same amount she paid at the Venice office complex.

"I
wanted a little more control over my destiny," she told Business
Insider. "I didn’t want to be subject to the whims of a
landlord."

Playa Vista has been a place of interest for many larger tech
companies looking to increase their footprint in Los Angeles. In
December, Google
paid $120 million for 12 acres in the city, in addition to
its Venice presence. Yahoo plans to move its Los Angeles
operation there. Facebook, Microsoft, YouTube, Konami, and Belkin
also have large offices there, and there's plenty of room for
construction.

YouTube Spaces in Playa
Vista.Madeline Stone / Business
Insider

Snapchat, however, has opted to stay in
Venice.

"The
expectation was that they would build their own campus in Culver
City or Playa Vista, but they consider Venice part of their
culture," Levi Brooks, cofounder and CEO of digital creative
consultant firm Use All Five, said to Business Insider. Use All
Five's office is located in the complex at Venice and Abbot
Kinney.

"I
understand capitalism and how it works. I’m not mad at Snapchat,"
Brooks said. "It
would've been nice if they had helped us find a new
space. Some
kind of communication would have gone a long
way."

According to Curbed
LA, an art studio, youth shelter, and gallery are
among the Market Street businesses that have already been pushed
out by Snapchat in the past two years.

Some local business owners are concerned that Snapchat's
rapid expansion could contribute to a deterioration of Venice's
quirky culture. Established in the early 20th century as a
planned community, Venice has at different points in its history
served as an amusement park, hippie haven, and the birthplace of
modern skating culture.

With lots of hip restaurants and boutiques, it still
maintains an edge today; in 2012,
GQ named Abbot Kinney "the coolest block in
America."

But Snapchat isn't the only company to push small
Venice businesses out of their office space.
Locals protested
GQ's designation, pointing to rising rents and
gentrification as big national brands like Lucky Brand, LF, and
Gant moved onto Abbot Kinney.

Restaurants and shops along Abbot Kinney.Madeline Stone / Business
Insider

"Venice has always been a place
that prides itself on diversity," Brooks said.
"When you’re buying up
all of this space, you lose the diversity of small
business."

Of course, not everyone sees
Snapchat as having a negative influence on the community. Pardee,
who sold a $2.1 million home to Snapchat cofounder Bobby Murphy
in 2013, has helped several other employees find homes in the
area.

"They’ve been respectful and very educated about the market as
they research so much online," she told Business Insider. "They
are excited to be a part of our community."

Plus, she says, having more employees in the area means more
people frequenting local boutiques, restaurants, and coffee
shops.

"Small businesses and big businesses tend to feed off each other,
especially in terms of creativity," Pardee said. "It's a delicate
mix, but I don't think Snapchat has been a vulture in Venice.
They've been really good tenants."

Jim Murez, manager of the Venice Farmers Market, told
the Los Angeles Times that growing tech companies are
just a sign of a changing economy.

"Is having a Snapchat better or worse than a mom-and-pop
production company?" Murez said to the LA
Times. "It's neither. It's just different."

Snapchat declined to comment on its real estate
negotiations. A spokesperson told Business Insider,
"We love being in Venice and we strive to be great
neighbors within the community where we live and work."